John Deere has announced its second callback of workers in as many weeks, this time for 146 laid-off employees to return to work in Waterloo starting in early March.
The announcement Friday, Feb. 6, follows a similar one Jan. 28, when the company said it would recall 75 idled employees to its Davenport Works plant and 24 to its Dubuque Works starting this month.
“These callbacks at Waterloo Tractor Operations reflect the production needs driven by increased customer demand. We’re excited to recall experienced employees to support our factories,” Fabio Castro, Waterloo Works vice president and factory manager, said in a news release accompanying Friday’s announcement.
Deere’s Waterloo Tractor Operations is the company’s largest manufacturing complex, spanning 2,734 acres and nearly 7.2 million square feet across five sites. It employs more than 4,000 workers.
The last two layoffs in Waterloo occurred in October 2025, when it dismissed 101 workers after having cut 71 the previous month.
Deere, along with other manufacturers, has suffered through a lingering poor agricultural economy, with 2026 forecast to be the fourth year in a row of farm losses. In total, the company has shed 2,197 jobs in Iowa, including 1,247 in Waterloo since March 2024, according to Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, website.
In its news release, Deere said the employee callbacks reflect increase production demand and ongoing factory needs. The January recalls came a day after President Donald Trump, speaking in Clive, praised Deere for its plans to build a new excavator plant in North Carolina and a distribution center in Indiana.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: John Deere calls back 146 laid-off workers at Waterloo tractor plant
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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